World No 18 Li Na is likely to play at Wimbledon despite pulling out of a warm-up tournament this week because of a muscle strain, the China Tennis Association (CTA) said yesterday.

The 25-year-old became the first Chinese to reach the quarterfinals of a grand slam tournament on her first appearance in the main draw at Wimbledon last year.

With the Olympic Points Rankings taking effect this month, a withdrawal from Wimbledon Open would rob her of up to 292 points out of 1333 that she can collect in 22 tournaments this year.

"She is unlikely to pull out of Wimbledon," CTA spokeswoman Xie Miqing told Sina.com. 

Li pulled out of the Eastbourne tournament in England following a withdrawal from the doubles' event at the Birmingham Open last week. The tournament's website said she quit due to "rib injury" but Xie said it was a muscle strain.

"Li Na strained a muscle in her chest, so she decided not play in Eastbourne this week to give her time to recover from the injury," she said.

The 25-year-old from Hubei, who soared to a personal best ranking of 16 in January, has found it hard to move further up due to injuries this year.

She had a modest clay court season with a third round finish at the French Open and before that she quit the Italian Open due to abdominal problems.

Zheng Jie, one half of last year's Wimbledon women's doubles championship winning team, has already been forced to withdraw from the tournament because of a left ankle injury.

Yan Zi, who won Wimbledon and the Australian Open doubles with Zheng last year, will now be partnered by world number 47 singles player Peng Shuai, who has recovered from a left ankle injury that forced her to miss the whole clay season.

After a surprising 2006 season that included two Grand Slam titles and an overall climb up the rankings, China's women's players are under heavy pressure to keep the momentum. Zheng and Yan have yet to win a major title so far while Li and Peng have both suffered constant injuries.

Zheng arrived in Beijing on Monday for possible surgery on the ankle and her return date is yet to be announced.

The CTA was recently criticized by China's Olympic medical chief, Li Guopeng, for allowing its players to carry on playing even though they are injured.

The CTA hit back, saying the health of the players comes first.

"We will not harm our players in order to defend a title," Xie said. "We will give Zheng enough time for the best recovery before letting her go back to the tour."

(China Daily June 20, 2007)